Tuesday, February 07, 2017

New Book on Habermas and Giddens

Habermas and Giddens on Praxis and ModernityA Constructive Comparisonby Craig Browne(Anthem Press, 2017)314 pagesDescription"Habermas and Giddens on Modernity: A Constructive Comparison" investigates how two of the most important and influential contemporary social theorists have sought to develop the modernist visions of the constitution of society through the autonomous actions of subjects. It compares Habermas and Giddens’ conceptions of the constitution of society, interpretations of the social-structural impediments to subjects’ autonomy, and their attempts to delineate potentials for progressive social change within contemporary society.Contents [preview]IntroductionPart I. New Paradigms and Social Theory Perspectives1. Habermas’s New Paradigm of Critical Theory2. Giddens’s Theory of Structuration – an Ontology of the SocialPart II. Institutionalizing Modernity: Development and Discontinuity3. Habermas on the Institutionalizing of Modernity: Communicative Rationality, Lifeworld and System4. Giddens on Institutionalizing Modernity: Power and Discontinuity5. Intermediate Reflections on Social Theory Alternatives: Contrasts and DivisionsPart III. The Political and Social Constellation of Contemporary Modernity6. Globalization, the Welfare State and Social Democracy7. Deliberative Politics, the Democratizing of Democracy and European CosmopolitanismConclusionCraig Browne is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney.